“Who, me? Cheat?”: Scenario-based academic integrity workshops for a Canadian open online institution

This paper describes the design and rationale for the authors’ scenario-based academic integrity workshops at an open online institution whose primary delivery method is self-paced and asynchronous. Building on research using academic integrity training for misconduct prevention, we developed a series of scenario-based, synchronous online workshops designed to develop students’ critical thinking around the ethics of academic integrity. Our speculative and problem-based scenarios presented situations students commonly face but which do not have obvious, clear-cut answers, especially given affective and self-efficacy factors that may impact choices around academic integrity. Through an online student response system, we encouraged attendees’ participation in evaluating the fictional students’ actions, determining what they should have done, or advising them on next steps. This interactive portion was followed by a panel discussion offering the views of a librarian, writing specialist, and philosophy professor, with a focus on skills, supports, ethics, and the application of academic integrity policy. Students demonstrated engagement and responded positively to each session. In this paper, we discuss our initiative, the themes we explored, and limitations and considerations for future improvements.